Clarinet



J. DfMACKEY.

CLARINET.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25. 1921.

Patented Aug. 1, 1922.

2 swans-sunk 1.

Q) Q Q INVENTOR A TTOR/VEYS 1. n. MACKE Y. CLARINET.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 25, I92 I. 1,424,253. Patented Aug. 1, 1922,

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- l/VI/ENTOR A TTORNEIS wmvasg s I I WIVES 2544/ M4 CII'E ir UNITED STATES JAMES DEAN MACKEY. or COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA.

CLARINET.

Application filed May 25,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES DEAN Maoxnx, a-citizen of the United States, and a resident of Columbia, in the county of Richland and State of-South Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clarinets, of which the following is a specifica tion. 1

.Wy invention relates to clarinets, and the purpose of my invention is the provision of a, clarinet having a set of auxiliary keys in addition to those provided in clarinets of the usual; construction by means of which th middle tones can be readily obtained without difficult fingering thereby permittin-g ofthe easy execution of rapid passages or trills. w i I willdescribe one form of clarinet embodying my invention and will then point out the novel features thereofin claims.-

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a view showing in side elevationone form of clarinet embodying my invention.

Figure 12 is an enlarged fragmentary detail View of the clarinet taken at a point at right angles tothe auxiliary set of; keys shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a View similarto Figure 2 takenat a point at right angles to such figure. 1

F 'gure 1 is a transverse sectionalrview of Figure 2. i i Figure 5is a transverse sectional view takenonqtheline 5 5 ofFigure 1.

Figures 6 to 9 are perspective views of the shafts comprised in the clarinet shownv in Figure 1. U 1

Figure 10 is a. view showing a chart which illustrates the operation of the keys of the clarinet shown in the preceding views.

Figure 11 is an enlarged fragmentary view showing indetail the mounting of one of the covers comprised in the auxiliaryset shown in Figure 1.

Similar reference characters refer to similar parts in each of the several views.

Referring specifically to the drawings and particularly to Figure 1, the clarinet here illustrated omits ashowing of numer ous keys,,'covers, and sound-holes all of Specification of LettersPat'ent.

g Patented Aug. 1, 1922. 1921. Serial no. 472,405.

which are of standard form and arrangement in order to simplify the drawings, and onlyshows those parts which are necessary to a clear understanding of the present invention: My invention is primarily designed, although not necessarily, as an improvement of the Boehm type of clarinet, and those parts which have been omitted can be readily supplied by referenceto any standard form of Boehm clarinet.

All Boehm clarinets include a tubular shaft 15 within which is'rotatably mounted a solid shaft 16; both of these shafts carry covers and rings which operateto control the sound-holes in a manner which will be well understood.

My invention consists in providing a set of supplementary or auxiliary covers deslgnated from 4 to 8 inclusive, each control hng a sound-hole formed in the body of the clarinet and obviously mounted for independent movement with respect to. each otherupon a shaft 1 1-. As shown inFigure 11 the shaft is journaled inbearing posts 13 fixed on the body of the clarinet and arranged at regular intervals as is the standard construction. Each cover 4, 5, etc. is provided with a sleeve 12 embracing the shaft 14 and provided with an ear. 12 which isengaged by one end of a resilient wire 10. The other end of the wire 10 is fixed in one of the bearing posts 13 and in such manner that it normally urges the sleeve 12 circumferentially of the shaft so as to normally hold the corresponding cover n open. position with respect to its soundhole. The several covers ito 8 inclusive are normally maintained in closed position against the action of the several wires 10 by means of a bar 20 which constitutes a part of a frame 21 mounted for oscillatory movement on a shaft 22 journaled in suitable bearing posts fixed to the clarinet body. The frame 21' is formed with an arm 23 of arcuate form and which is arranged to extend to a point on the clarinet body diametrically opposite thesound holes in a manner clearly shown in Figure 4 where it is connected to a thumb key 2 fulcrumed at 25 and provided at its free end with a ring 26 controlling the usual thumb hole. By this arrangement it will be seen that the thumb ring 26 is normally in open position by virtue of the combined action of the several wires 10 acting on the frame 21 through the several covers 4 to 8 inclusive. hen the ring 26 is moved to closed position, the key lever 2 1 will be rocked to actuate the frame 21 through the arm 23 to simultaneously close all of the covers 4 to 8 inclusive.

As shown in Figure 1, the usual shafts 15 and 16 are extended at their upper ends where the shaft 15 is provided with a pair of arms 27 and-28 which are arranged to engage the covers 8 and 4;, respectively. The construction of the shaft and arms is clearly shown in Figure 9. As illustrated to advantage in Figure 8, the extended por tion of the shaft 16 carries arms 29 and 30 which as shown in Figure 1 are adapted to actuate covers 8 and 5. Both of the shafts 15 and 16 have adjacent their lower ends the usual covers and rings designated at A, 5, 6 and 8 and which operate in the usual manner to control corresponding soundholes formed in the body of the clarinet.

In addition to the shafts 15 and 16, I provide av second pair of shafts 17 and 18 ar ranged one within the other and with the shaft 17 provided at its upper end with a spring arm 31 and adjacent its lower end with an arm 32 arranged in reverse relation with respect to the arm 31 so as to be engaged by the arm of the ring 6 when the latter is moved to closed position and to thereby effect an actuation of the shaft 17. The arm 31 is adapted to engage and actuate the cover 6 as is clearly shown in Figure 1. As shown in Figure 6 the shaft 18 is provided adjacent its upper end with an arm 33 and at its lower end an L-shaped arm 34. As shown in Figure 1 the arm 34 is adapted to be engaged by the actuating lever 35 of a ring 7, the latter controlling a sound-hole formed on the clarinet body and constituting a standard part of the Boehm form of clarinet. The arm 33 is adapted to engage and actuate the cover 7.

In operation, the covers of the auxiliary or supplemental set are,normally closed because the ring 26 is normally held in closed position by the thumb of the operator. The rings of the covers 4 to 8 inclusive can now be operated in the usual manner and without actuating the covers of the auxiliary set. However, when it is desired to operate the keys ofthe auxiliary set, the thumb of the operator is removed from the ring 26 thereby allowing the frame 21 to move to releasing position under the action of the wires 10 and with it the movement of the covers 1 to 8 inclusive to open position. N ow when the keys 4? to 8 are operated the covers of the auxiliary set will be operated in the following manner: When the ring 6 is depressed the shaft 17 is oscillated by the arm of the ring engaging the arm 32 so as to move the arm 31 and thus close the cover 6 of the auxiliary set. When the ring 5" is depressed two arms 29 and 30 of the shaft 16 engage and move the covers 4 to 8 to closed position. As Will be noted in Figure 8, the cover 8 normally swings free on the shaft 16 so that it may be moved to closed position without oscillating the shaft. However, a finger 36 is fixed to the shaft 16 and is adapted to engage the arm of the cover 8 to move the latter to closed position upon oscillation of the shaft. It will therefore be seen that when the shaft is oscillated by depressing the key 5, the cover 8 is moved to closed position. When the ring 4 is depressed, the shaft 15 is oscillated thus causing the arms 27 and 28 to engage and move the covers 1 and 8 to closed position.

The cover 7 is normally in closed position and when such cover is moved to open position an oscillation of the shaft 18 is effected through the medium of the arm 34.- to simultaneously move the cover 7 of the auxiliary set to closed position under the action of the arm 33.

From the foregoing operation of the several rings and covers it will be clear that an actuation of the usual rings and covers of the clarinet effects an actuation of the corresponding covers of the auxiliary set, and that this operation may be performed without moving the right hand from its usual position on the clarinet thereby materially facilitating the execution of the numerous chromatic tones.

In practice, the tones of the lower register are obtained in the usual manner by a manipulation of the rings and covers 1 to 8 inclusive, and other rings and covers (not shown), while the tones Gr, G sharp, A, B flat, B natural, and G of the middle register can be produced when the thumb of the left hand is removed from the ring 26 (which is the natural position of the thumb) and the keys 4 to 8 inclusive actuated in the manner indicated by the chart shown in Figure 10. This permits of the execution of rapid passages and trills in a far more expeditious manner than is possible in clarinets heretofore proposed.

lVhat I claim is:

1. A clarinet comprising means for obtaining the tones of the lower register, means operable by the last means for obtaining the tones of the middle register, and manually operable means for controlling the last mentioned means to render such means inactive or active by the first means.

2. In combination, a clarinet, means for obtaining the tones of the lower register in cluding two pairs of concentric shafts, sound-holes for obtaining the tones of the middle register, covers operable by said shafts for controlling said sound-holes, and means for maintaining said covers in closed position independently of said shafts.

3. A clarinet comprising means for obtain- 5 ing the tones of the lower register, means operable by the last means for obtaining the tones of the middle register, and manually operable means for controlling the last mentioned means to render such means inactive or active by the first means comprising a bar for maintaining said covers in closed position, anda thumb operated means for actuating the bar.

JAMES DEAN MAOKEY. 

